When have you ever stood up for someone on their behalf? To do what ?

1. When have you ever stood up for someone on their behalf? To do what ?

2. Write down what the Communion of Saints is. Who is in the Communion of Saints? Who is not? How can they help each other? **Who needs help the most? Why? • The Communion of Saints There is a connection between the people on earth who follow Christ, and the people who have diedin Christ, especially the Saints. They make up a “family” who stand up for each other before God. This is the Communion of Saints. To define what a communion of saints is To explain how in the Communion of Saints, saints help each other To evaluate who is most powerful in the community of Saints. The picture shows the 3 groups of people who make up the Communion of Saints. Who are they? How can they help each other?

3. Explain what an “intercessor” is Describe briefly how Mary interceded with Jesus at the wedding in Cana. Explain how this gives evidence for the idea that we should pray to saints for their intercession. **What does this suggest about the way that the Saints can help us here on earth?? Where does the idea of praying to Saints come from? Watch the video & listen to the story that the priest says. From 4mins On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman,why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.

4. The Saints can help us in very concrete ways – not just spiritually! St Anthony – if you have lost something St Jude desperate situations and hopeless causes St Christopher – patron saint of travelling St Patrick – patron saint of Ireland and engineers St Teresa Avila, patron saint of headaches St Genevieve, patron saint of disasters St Cecilia – patron saint of music St. Frances de Sales, patron saint of authors, journalists and writers St. Isodore of Seville, patron saint of computers and the internet! St. Catharine of Bologna, patron saint of art St. Monica, patron saint of married women and mothers • 1.Explain how the Saints in heaven can help us on earth • In a spiritual way • In a material/ concrete way • **Which Saints might you be most likely to pray to and why? St Paul said that we are like the players in the stadium. and the saints in heaven are the spectators…

5. So what is the Communion of Saints? A. receiving the eucharist along with other holy ChristiansB. a group you belong to only after you dieC. a way living and dead Christians, help each other through prayerD. a family of dead Christians cheering on the living

6. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death”. Mindmap with your partner reasons why Mary is a very effective helper in the Communion of Saints. Mother of Jesus – very close to Him, so able to intercede with Him for us Born and preserved by God to be without sin (she is the “immaculate” conception) – so very holy and pure: close to God. On the cross, Jesus gave her to us to be our mother, when he said to his disciple John “Behold your Mother” : so she will always care for us as a mother. She isn’t our judge – only our help. Compassionate, because she is familiar with suffering and evil in her own and her son’s life, and knows his desire to forgive. Write out the quote above from the Hail Mary prayer. Explain 2 important reasons why Mary is a powerful “intercessor” for us in the Communion of Saints. **Would you pray to Mary for help? Why/ why not?